Bank cheers Budget’s focus on saving as UK confidence swells
LLOYDS Bank has backed the recent Budget’s focus on savings, as the group records the strongest consumer confidence in at least three years.
Lloyds’ latest spending power report suggests that the number of people saving some of their income has risen by a third since May last year. The bank’s headline figure for consumer confidence has reached 130 for the first time, 30 points above the 100 level recorded when the survey started in 2010.
“With consumer sentiment towards the country’s employment situation continuing an upward trend, people’s personal finances will hopefully also start to see an improvement in line with the country’s financial situation. Looking towards the next six months, consumer pockets should not be feeling as stretched,” said Philip Robinson, director of personal current accounts at Lloyds Bank.
Confidence in the increasingly buoyant housing market is still on the rise, with 45 per cent of people responding that it is somewhat good, very good or excellent, rising up from only a quarter this time last year.
With the rate of joblessness falling, only 25 per cent of people described the UK’s unemployment climate as “not good at all”, down from 56 per cent during February two years ago.